


A Banter For My Death

by Mokulule



Series: Mortality [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Banter, Gen, In a cave, Insanity, Mind Games, Sadly no boxes of scraps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-24
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 19:45:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/494993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mokulule/pseuds/Mokulule
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Any last words before I rip this delightful toy out of your chest?"</p><p>Loki is vengeful and Tony is spiteful, not exactly the growing ground for sane, friendly and productive conversations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Banter For My Death

**Author's Note:**

> So I felt I needed to upload something now that I finally got an account...

"Any last words before I rip this delightful toy out of your chest?" Loki grinned with that mad and much too toothy grin, as he laid his palm flat on the glowing device in the inventor's chest.

  


Tony waged war on his heart that beat too fast and too fearful, which he was sure the god could feel under his fingertips somehow despite the hum of the reactor. He waged war on the sarcastic part of him, the one with no self preservation whatsoever, that longed to make him roll his eyes and point out, that it would be a good fifteen minutes _after_ the said ripping out of the arc reactor, _before_ he would die from cardiac arrest, and that would give him plenty time for last _words_ , if not entire _conversations_. 

  


Now was not the time however for fear or sarcasm. Because Loki was back, crazier than ever and with a vengeance. 

  


The engineer had no doubt, even if he was the first target, that the plan was to take the Avengers down one by one. It annoyed the genius greatly, because he knew this was just a matter of breaking his brother's mortal toys. Another temper tantrum of epic proportions, though this time laced with a bit of personal enmity towards each of them for the roles they'd played in the trickster's defeat, but still this was essentially about Thor. 

  


Tony resented that. Loki didn't even have the decency to kill him for being Tony Stark or Iron Man. He was simply the weakest link in the chain of mortals Loki needed to kill to get to the Thunderer; Tony Stark was a public figure, Iron Man, and he couldn't be hidden away like Jane Foster and her friends, he was not Natasha and Clint who excelled at hiding in plain sight, he was not a super soldier and most certainly not an invulnerable green rage monster. Without his armor, outside his workshop and his buildings or rather without Jarvis and his security systems he was as vulnerable as the rest of this planet's human inhabitants. Loki had taken advantage of that and spirited him away to this godforsaken (or god-inhabited, whatever) _cave_ of all things. 

  


So Tony intended to take advantage of those last words so _graciously_ offered to point out just how petty the supposed god of mischief was being and how _little_ killing Tony meant. He would be damned if he would let Loki feel any kind of satisfaction.

  


"Do your worst then," he smiled thinly coldly, resentment steeling his lingering fear, "just don't think finishing the job of some half-assed terrorists is any kind of accomplishment."

  


Loki raised an eyebrow at that, amusement creeping up on the crazy in his green eyes.

  


"The reason you rely on this device..." He tapped the glass lightly. His smile was crooked, thoughtful and had just a hint of mania. "It's not like I actually need to pull this out to kill you."

  


Tony smiled grimly. "My point exactly."

  


The God of mischief looked momentarily taken aback before his face blanked. 

  


"Whatever do you mean?" His voice was careless, carefully void of any emotion, almost disinterested, but Tony knew instinctively he had Loki's undivided attention (and irritation because the God of Mischief did not like to be behind in mind games). 

  


"You could break my skull, my neck, crush my windpipe, cut off my limbs and watch me bleed out. You could poison me, burn me, drown me, freeze me" he caught and held those acid green eyes, "there is _none_ of those thing that would be any kind of accomplishment. The seven billion people on this planet would be capable of just the same. Given the right incentive of course," he added almost thoughtfully. Loki saw the moment to break in.

  


"I could..."

  


"I'm sure you could," Tony interrupted indulgently as if speaking to a child, relishing in the flash of rage in the green gaze, before his face turned flinty again, "but honestly the end result would be the same; one or more of my body's necessary functions would fail, and I would die. Nothing spectacular about it. Even without you speeding things along I could be dead by tomorrow; a car could hit me, one of my experiments could blow up in my face, one of the many human enemies I've made throughout my life could turn up and shoot me. I could go that one step too far with any of my fellow Avengers. I could be clumsy at the wrong moment and fall down a stupid _staircase_."

  


Without realizing it he was no longer backed against the wall, but up and moving towards the insane god who was slowly backing up for each point Tony made. He was unknowing of how his own brown eyes reflected the crazy he'd seen earlier in the other's eyes. 

  


"I'm just that _fragile_. That's what it means to be a mortal. Death is our natural companion and I'm already living on borrowed time," he tapped the arc reactor in demonstration, "I run on a Goddamn battery, Loki. So just kill me and get this over with, but do not consider it any kind of _accomplishment_." He spat that last word out like it was vile. "Because you and I both know the real reason you want to kill me, _us_ , is because it would hurt your brother..." 

  


He glared until he saw that small flinch in green eyes, proof that the God of lies knew deep down it was mostly himself he was lying to, when telling himself this was not about Thor. Now to drive the nails into the coffin, probably his own... 

  


He stepped back from where he was literally in the other's face, held out his arms theatrically and turned on the spot. 

  


"And temper tantrum of the year goes to," he drew a breath and held it for three seconds, hearing the drum roll in his mind, before indicating the nonplussed God with a flourish of his left hand and a small bow towards his imaginary audience, "Loki, God of Mischief and Lies, _mostlytohimself_ ," he coughed into his hand and regained his composure and show-biz smile with the ease of years of practice. "Everyone give him a big hand..."   

  


The pain in the back of his skull was the first thing he registered, then the hand squeezing his throat. He was once more back against the cave wall, though this time held bodily off the ground by the hand at his throat. Loki's eyes spat enraged green fire at him (not literally mind, but he might if Tony managed to get him just a bit more angry, who knew?). The engineer's lips turned upwards and he swallowed with difficulty. Loki would certainly have defenestrated him once more if the cave had had windows to throw him out of. He allowed himself a mental pat on the back; he hadn't lost his touch. 

  


"That's more like it," he croaked through the pressure on his windpipe. 

  


Loki let go of him with a sneer of disgust - partly at the human and partly at himself, Tony suspected. If only he could figure out the exact fractions, that would immensely help with his outcome calculations even if he did enjoy the random button pushing.  

  


"You are wrong, mortal," the god muttered vehemently with a slight slump to his shoulders. He had taken just a step away.

  


Even as Tony's lips twitched in amusement, "yeah, keep telling yourself that," he couldn't help the slight frown showing his unease. He wasn't quite sure they were on the same track anymore. When the trickster looked back up at him and that manic energy was back with one of the toothy smiles, he felt his stomach turn to lead and his mouth dry out. Yup, tables were about to be turned, lovely. This time he could have stood to be incorrect.

  


"You _are_ wrong," the god singsonged with delight clapping his hands together. He walked a few steps towards the cave center, before pirouetting back to face him.

  


"You see," he paused dramatically, "you think I picked you out because you are the weakest, and while it certainly wasn't hard getting my hands on you, it's not the reason."

  


He stalked over with ominous intent and Tony found it was himself pressing his back to the wall this time. There was no escape though and he could do nothing but stiffen when Loki reached out and his fingertips touched his temples gently... He was confused and didn't even try to struggle as the long fingers moved to tangle into his hair and hold onto his head. When the god took a step backwards, he followed with his own step forward, as much because of the hypnotizing gaze as the solid grip the other had on his head.

  


"The real reason is in here." He tapped a finger on Tony's skull in demonstration. "Such a mind... trapped in this fragile shell. So deceptively harmless." He narrowed his eyes. "Yes that is exactly the image you like to project, make people forget Iron Man and Tony Stark are one and the same or more importantly that you built that armor. It's so easy to dismiss you when you display an aura of incompetence or annoy people so much they forget exactly how brilliant you are."

  


Tony's lips twitched, flattered despite how he could feel his plan go down the drain. 

  


"Sure none of your other Avengers are downright stupid, not even my _brother dearest_." He made a face of utter disgust. "And the lovely monster is downright smart when he's not green; a genius even, when it comes to his area of interest."

  


"When it comes down to it though, you are the one person most likely to find a non magical mean to hold me given enough time. Because you are an inventor, a problem solver with a practical approach. The others may beat me, defeat me, but they will not kill me, Thor the fool would not let them, I was his brother for more than a thousand years and he's known you all but a few, and they most certainly have no way to imprison me for any significant period."  

  


"And you've just proven your mind brilliant," he continued, "look what you just did to me simply to spite me. You manipulated _me_ , the Trickster himself."

  


"Because I was also right," Tony whispered with a small smile, caught entirely in the madness just inches in front of him.

  


"Yes," he breathed and it was like a winter breeze on his face asking him to go on.

  


"Because every word I said is also true, undeniable because it's truth, even if my reasoning for you picking me out first wasn't."

  


"Yes," he affirmed triumphantly, "and you almost had me there. You almost had me kill you in a fit of anger with your provocations and I would have truly been the loser of this encounter, for it would have been a hollow kill. You would have taken the choice from my hands and into your own." He laughed, low and slightly menacing. Thin lips split into a wondering smile. "I don't even know if I would have still been able to find pleasure in Thor's mourning. You could have really ruined my fun." 

  


He gave the inventor's head a good shake like one would a piggy bank, to tell if there were any coins, to tell if it was worth breaking. He tilted his head in consideration and smirked when he felt the man's pulse quicken in fear. Finally.

  


Tony swallowed thickly. "So what now? You're back in control. You gonna torture and then kill me? I'm partial to stuff involving water, I've had umm... practice."

  


Keeping his smirk firmly in place, Loki let the human ramble. His lack of reaction, it seemed, only made Stark more nervous and he kept babbling. Keeping his focus on the man's face he let the words drown into meaningless sound. Whatever the genius said it was obviously meant to create some sort of reaction from him, but that obviously wasn't happening since he'd stopped listening. It was a most fascinating play of emotions as that expressive face shifted from looking completely unconcerned to gradually cracking and showing the growing panic when one by one his barbs failed. His eyes flickered looking for an escape not there.

  


"Hush now, Stark," he interrupted softly. To his great surprise it actually worked and the man snapped his mouth shut. The mortal's pupils were blown wide as they settled back on his. Pleased with the unexpected obedience he ran his fingers through the disheveled dark hair a few times. He imagined this cornered-animal look was not one many had seen on Stark's face. The man's body had a fine tremble beneath his hands.

  


"No killing," he tutted. "Did we not just agree there was no _accomplishment_ in that for me? I seem to remember you arguing that most vehemently." There was a brief flash of something like hope in those brown eyes, before it was squashed out of sight. Oh how Loki enjoyed this little game. "But we also did agree that you just cannot be allowed to use that brain of yours against me," he dug his fingers into the man's scalp just hard enough to be unpleasant instead of massaging.

  


"Yes," he said nodding to himself as if he'd only just decided now what he wanted to do, "that will be the real accomplishment."

  


Moving his left hand to the back of the man's neck he laid his right hand flat on his forehead. Summoning his magic he let it seep from his right hand into Stark's very bones, before flinging it away with a wave of his hand and a snip as he cut off his magical connection to it. It landed with a dull thud. 

  


He let go of Stark and the man stumbled back a few steps with a look of horror on his face before he ended up on his behind. 

  


"What the Hell is that?!" he demanded having apparently found his voice again. 

  


Loki looked behind himself to the Stark splayed lifelessly on the ground, that scared wide-eyed look on it's face. Blood pooled slowly into the cavity of the chest where the real one had the metal device. It was not part of the biology and could therefore not be copied with this spell, but it did give the nice impression that the device, casing and all, had been ripped away.

  


"Why Stark," he tsk'ed,"it is obviously your body double. You without the metal and soul, you know the bits that keep you ticking. How else am I to ensure you will receive no rescue?" 

  


Loki walked briskly over to the body. He picked it up effortlessly and slung it over a shoulder. Blood ran out of the gaping empty chest and dripped onto the floor. Tony felt his breakfast coming up. 

  


"Left with nothing to do here, I wonder when your mind will give in to the madness," the Trickster remarked offhandedly and then started cackling, crazy and uncontrollable, before disappearing in a flash of green.

  


Tony was left on his hands and knees, heaving onto the cave floor with the god of mischief's laughter ringing in his ears. Well this certainly sucked.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah a continuation is probably in order, like a series of encounters.


End file.
